The North Little Rock School Board on Monday approved five contracts totaling about $3.1 million for the purchase of technology equipment and services as part of the capital-improvement program to rebuild and renovate district campuses.
The district will seek reimbursement of up to $1.9 million of the technology costs. The Universal Service Administrative Co.’s Schools and Libraries Program, also referred to as the E-rate program, provides discounts of up to 90 percent to eligible schools and libraries to help them afford telecommunications and Internet services.
The Universal Service Administrative Co. is a nonprofit corporation designated by the Federal Communications Commission to collect contributions from telecommunications carriers to offset costs to the schools and libraries.
The schools and libraries must solicit competitive bids from vendors to select the most cost-efficient providers for the services.
The North Little Rock board approved contracts with Pathway Communications LTD for $456,352; JSK Co., Inc. doing business as I-K Electric Co. for $221,420; and Genesis Datacom LLC for $1.6 million.
The board also approved two contracts with the Arkansas K12 LLC, doing business as White River Services and Solutions, for $272,126 and $549,819.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 02/11/2014